An Index of Articles on Governance

"Not a week goes by, it seems, without yet another revelation of corruption or cronyism and incompetence within the leadership and executive strata of these once-great United States. Each case is cause for dismay and anger, of course, but recent revelations coming out of the Department of Justice are of a different order entirely. It appears that the very ability of the American system of justice to detect, prosecute, and punish political corruption has been compromised..." [27 May 07]

"On my very first visit to Bolivia, back in 1998, I was asked to give a lecture on corruption at the Escuela de Altos Estudios Nacionales (roughly translated: school of higher national studies). Of course I knew almost nothing about the topic..." [1-Aug-05]

"In my experience with the Third World, which began as a young boy living near a refugee camp in Lahore, Pakistan, peace is seldom threatened by military war between nations, even though these wars receive the most attention in history. The absence of peace is, instead, ..."

"In 1948-49, as I was tootling back and forth between Frankfurt and Paris, friends on both sides of the border were talking about a "United States of Europe." They had in mind something like the "United States of America," but they had no idea how difficult that would be..."

"How are 'bads' (pollution, unsafe working conditions, unfair treatment of labor, etc.) converted into 'goods'? One way is to pass laws disallowing the 'bads.' Whoever commits them is punished. Another way is for 'goods' to become profitable..."

"In the recent splurge of corporation scandals, our first thought is to strengthen the power of government to control them. This is vertical accountability. But I prefer sidewise accountability where, with a few exceptions such as children accountable to parents, there is no social hierarchy..."

"From Enron, we have learned that corporations have no brains and no souls. Only the people within them have brains and souls. Without brains, corporations cannot think of their bottom lines. Only people can..."

"During the thirties my mother handed me a copy of The New Russia's Primer: The Story of the Five Year Plan, produced by the Soviet Government in 1930. I was most impressed by how the Soviets would hand power to the people..."